Lynn Crawford (born July 18, 1964) is a Canadian

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a k ...

and television personality. She is known for her appearances on the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

show '' Restaurant Makeover'', which is seen in over 16 countries worldwide.

Biography

Lynn Crawford was born July 18, 1964 in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. She trained at

George Brown College George Brown College is a public, fully accredited college of applied arts and technology with three campuses in downtown Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Like many other colleges in Ontario, GBC was chartered in 1966 by the government of Ontario and ...

in Toronto. She apprenticed under

Alice Waters Alice Louise Waters (born April 28, 1944) is an American chef, restaurateur, and author. In 1971 she opened Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its role in creating the farm-to-table movement and for pioneering Calif ...

. She was formerly the

executive chef A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads and manages the kitchen and chefs of a restaurant or hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilitie ...

at the

Four Seasons The Four Seasons, originally referring to the traditional seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter (typical of a temperate climate), may refer to: Music * ''The Four Seasons'' (Vivaldi), a 1725 set of four violin concertos by Antonio Viv ...

and the former

of the Four Seasons in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. From 2010 until 2021 she co-founded and co-owned, alongside Lora Kirk, the table d’hôte restaurant ''Ruby Watchco'' in Toronto.

Television appearances

She appeared on the

's ''

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, whi ...

'' (the third chef from Canada to do so), in a battle with

Iron Chef is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, was a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle bu ...

Bobby Flay Robert William Flay (born December 10, 1964), is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and reality television personality. Flay is the owner and executive chef of several restaurants and franchises, including Bobby's Burger Palace, Bobby's ...

. The episode first aired on March 7, 2007, with

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

as the theme ingredient. Crawford lost the battle to Chef Flay. In 2010, Crawford debuted a

Food Network Canada Food Network, formerly called Food Network Canada, is a Canadian English language specialty channel based on the U.S. cable network of the same name. It airs programming related to food, cooking, cuisine, and the food industry. The Canadian versi ...

series entitled '' Pitchin' In'', in which she goes out to take on the challenge of getting the freshest and best ingredients. In the same year she launched Ruby Watchco, a

table d'hôte In restaurant terminology, a ''table d'hôte'' (; ) menu is a menu where multi-course meals with only a few choices are charged at a fixed total price. Such a menu may be called ''prix fixe'' ("fixed price"; ). The terms set meal and set menu ...

restaurant, in Toronto's Riverside neighbourhood. In 2010, she was nominated for a

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United State ...

in the Best Host in a Lifestyle/Practical Information, or Performing Arts Program or Series category for the ''Pitchin' In'' shrimp episode. In 2014, Crawford was nominated for

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) ...

in the category of Lifestyle Program or Series for ''Pitchin In''. In 2013, Crawford was a contestant on ''

Top Chef Masters ''Top Chef Masters'' is an American reality competition series that aired on the cable television network Bravo, and premiered June 10, 2009. It is a spinoff of Bravo's hit show ''Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition te ...

'', along with her spouse Lora Kirk. Crawford and Kirk published the cookbook ''Hearth & Home: Cook, Share and Celebrate Family Style'' in 2021.Patricia Karounos
"For top Canadian chefs Lynn Crawford and Lora Kirk, all food leads back home"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'', October 21, 2021. In 2018, Crawford was the Iron Chef for the debut of '' Iron Chef Canada'', a Food Network Canada series. She is one of five Iron Chefs in the series, along with Hugh Acheson, Amanda Cohen, Rob Feenie and Susur Lee.

Personal life

Crawford is a lesbian. She has many tattoos and likes motorcycles. Her former partner was Joy Lachita, a schoolteacher and playwright.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Food Network profile
*
Ruby Watchco
(copy archived May 5, 2020) {{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Lynn 1964 births Living people Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian television chefs Participants in Canadian reality television series Canadian restaurateurs Women restaurateurs George Brown College alumni Canadian cookbook writers Writers from Toronto Women chefs Canadian lesbian writers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian LGBT broadcasters Canadian women chefs LGBT chefs Chefs from Toronto